Advances in digital technologies and the increased availability of data can be used to support low-income customers to do more than make payments. These advances can help them to make financial decisions and develop strategies to manage their finances.

This Brief addresses the recent movement toward responsible finance, which has shaped the industry's belief that financial service providers have a responsibility to deliver financial services in a way that is transparent, fair, safe, and likely to generate benefits for poor clients.

This Focus Note distills lessons from four microfinance markets: Nicaragua, Morocco, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), and Pakistan. These countries have all experienced a microfinance repayment crisis after a period of high growth and are important microfinance markets in their respective regions.

Although Pakistan’s population exceeds 170 million,it is estimated that there are only 16 million individual bank accounts, meaning that the vast majority of the population is without access to banking services.